Money Highway

Barclays’ biggest shareholder, Qatar Holding, sold a 3.5 per cent stake in the bank for a £615m profit yesterday, raising speculation that the investment vehicle of the emirate might raise its holding in J Sainsbury. The bank’s shares closed down nearly 5 per cent at 363¾p. The Qataris invested in Barclays last year as part of the bank’s efforts to buttress its capital position. The main transaction – a £7.3bn package of equity, convertible notes and warrants placed with investors in Qatar, Abu Dhabi and China in November – was designed to allow Barclays to avoid government bail-out money.

The broking arms of Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have stopped trading on behalf of Raj Rajaratnam’s Galleon Group following his arrest on insider dealing charges late last week. ?Evening Standard London  p. 38

Credit Suisse is being sued by Roche for allegedly mis-selling $545 million (£333 million) of risky securities to the Swiss pharmaceutical group. Roche has accused the bank of selling it so-called auction rate securities instead of less risky securities backed by student loans. The bank said that it would defend itself

Strong demand from people buying a new home helped mortgage lending to edge up 2 per cent during September, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

A mortgage price war was sparked last night when one of the country’s biggest lenders slashed its rates by up to 0.6 per cent. Hailed as yet another sign competition is returning to the market, the Woolwich cut follows in the wake of reductions by the Nationwide, Northern Rock, HSBC and a host of other lenders determined to win a share of a resurgent home loans business. Now millions of homeowners and buyers will hope to reap the benefits of cheaper deals as the UK’s 160 banks and building societies compete for customers by slashing their rates.

The Serious Fraud Office has been quietly trawling through the details of tens of thousands of hedge funds which have set up shop in London. Investigators found that although the Financial Services Authority does register and monitor the managers of hedge funds based in the UK, it does not regularly check the integrity of the hedge funds themselves.

BlackRock, the asset management group, reported third-quarter earnings of $317m yesterday, a 46 per cent gain over a year ago, reflecting improving conditions in global financial markets. BlackRock’s total assets under management rose $61bn to $1,435bn during the quarter, a gain of 4 per cent over the previous quarter and 14 per cent over the same period in 2008. For the quarter, Black-Rock posted $14.5bn in net inflows in equities, fixed income and alternative investments, and net outflows of $26.4bn in cash management.

Equitable Life policyholders campaigning for justice have secured a victory after the Government said it would not challenge the findings of a landmark High Court ruling made last week

Prudential, the UK insurer, is considering a separate listing in Hong Kong or Shanghai in a move that could raise capital and underline its regional ambitions. The company, which saw strong demand for a $750m (£450m) hybrid capital raising in Asia this year, is conducting a preliminary assessment of the likely benefits of listing on either bourse, according to people familiar with the matter. A number of western financial groups are looking at deepening their engagement in the fast-growing markets of Asia following HSBC’s decision last month to relocate its chief executive, Michael Geoghegan, from London to Hong Kong.
Daily Express

A survey conducted by Fidelity International has found that 54 per cent of Isa (individual savings account) investors aged over 50 with at least £10,000 in savings have a positive outlook on the stock market.